STEUBENVILLE — The Jefferson County Port Authority has received $300,000 in state grant funds for in-depth environmental assessments at the JSW Steel USA facility in Mingo Junction.

Executive Director Robert Naylor informed the port authority’s board of directors on Wednesday about the award, which came through the Ohio Department of Development’s Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program. Founded in 2021 by Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, the program has awarded over $560 million to 550 projects in 86 Ohio counties.

A release from the Ohio Governor’s Office states that grant awards “will help assess and clean up industrial, commercial, and institutional brownfield sites that are abandoned, idled, or underutilized due to a known or potential release of hazardous substances or petroleum. Following site remediation, properties can be redeveloped to revitalize neighborhoods and attract new economic development.”

The port authority’s grant will finance a phase II site assessment at JSW’s South Yard to identify possible environmental impacts from before JSW obtained the property, which was historically used for steel production and storage.

According to the release, the South Yard assessment “aims to address potential groundwater issues and prepare the property for continued industrial use, supporting both current operations and future site development,” the release states.

A total of $58.2 million in funding was announced Tuesday, with $55.9 million for 46 cleanup/remediation projects and $2.4 million for 15 assessments projects. That amounts to 61 brownfield projects across 33 counties being supported.

The brownfield program is funded by the Ohio General Assembly through the current operating budget. All of Ohio’s 88 counties were eligible for at least $1 million in funding, and remaining funds were awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.   

On April 1, the port authority submitted four properties for the fiscal year 2024 ODOD program: Energy Transition and Environmental Management LLC, owner of the former W.H. Sammis Power Plant; Zimnox Coal in Brilliant and the Tidewater Logistics site in South Steubenville.

ODOD requested more information regarding all four projects, with a deadline of 15 business days for each, Naylor said. Due to the deadline, information could not be submitted for the Zimnox Coal project, which subsequently was formally withdrawn from the program.

As of this latest grant, Naylor said, the port authority has received nearly $2.9 million in grant funds for brownfield remediation work in Jefferson County, including a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant awarded in May.

Previously, the port authority applied for and was awarded fiscal year 2022 ODOD grant funds covering six projects, among which is JSW’s North Yard. Closeout on that grant is expected soon Naylor said.

The goal of site assessments — and cleanups, if needed — at JSW and other locations is to acquire a letter from the state indicating that no further remediation efforts are necessary, Naylor said. This gives property owners the environmental go-ahead to pursue further expansion on the site.

Additionally, the port authority board of directors voted unanimously to fulfill a funding request that would support creation of the Ohio River Commission of Ohio as an independent agency of the State of Ohio.

As it currently exists, ORCO is a loose coalition of Ohio River stakeholders, including the Columbiana County Port Authority, Washington County Port Authority, Central Ohio River Business Association, Lawrence County Economic Development Corporation, Benchmark River and Rail Terminals, the Jefferson County Port Authority and the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission.

The coalition formed in 2019 to promote the 450-mile-long Ohio River as a critical economic tool, given its outstanding impact on commerce. The nation’s top three inland port statistical areas are located on the Ohio River: The Mid-Ohio Valley Port, the Port of Huntington Tristate and the Ports of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

Funds made available to Ohio’s Maritime industry through the Ohio Department of Transportation Maritime Assistance Program have “overwhelmingly” been directed to projects for Lake Erie, Naylor said. Unlike the Ohio River, Lake Erie benefits from its own central agency for planning, coordinating and advocacy — the Lake Erie Commission.

The creation of such a central agency for the Ohio River would give the waterway a “stronger voice” when it comes to capturing maritime funds and better situate it for pursuing potential recreational or commercial developments

Creating such an agency would require the Ohio General Assembly to pass it as legislation — namely Senate Bill 286 — and fund it.

To help accomplish that, lobbying firm Sunday Creek Horizon offered a proposal, wherein it would represent ORCO on the legislative push for seven months at a cost of $35,000.

Naylor asked that the board fund up to $4,000 to support the initiative, with $3,500 covering the lobbying efforts. The other $500 would cover the port authority’s membership cost for joining CORBA, a trade association representing the maritime community centered around the Ports of Cincinnati and Kentucky.

“A huge part of our economy relies on that river, and to the extent that we can leverage that, then the greater impact it’s going to have on our area,” said board member Brenan Pergi, who made the motion to fulfill Naylor’s request.